The module according to the present invention comprises a body of wound layers of a sheet material, said body having an inner and an outer peripheral surface, a first and a second end face, a winding axis and a passage extending along the winding access of said body and in fluid communication with said inner peripheral surface. The sheet material has a plurality of openings formed therein, said openings forming different types of channels within the wound layers of sheet material of said body, said channels extending in a direction from the inner peripheral surface to the outer peripheral surface.
A first type of channel formed in said body is open at one end at the outer peripheral surface of the body and closed at the other end located closer to the inner peripheral surface. A second type of channel is open at one end at the inner peripheral surface of the body and in fluid communication with said passage and closed at the other end located closer to the outer peripheral surface.
The different types of channels are separated from one another by portions of sheet material such that fluid to be filtered and entering one type of channels may reach the other type of channel and exit the filter module only by migrating through a portion of said body formed by the sheet material separating these different types of channels.
One type of channel is communicating with a port, e.g., a fluid inlet of said filter module. Channels of this type are called in the following inlet channels; another type of channels is communicating with another port, e.g., a fluid outlet of said filter module and these channels are called in the following outlet channels.
Modules of this type are generally known as filter modules, for example, from the PCT application WO 03/041829 A2.
Another filter module of this type is known, for example, from U.S. Pat. No. 2,339,703.
While the filter modules as mentioned above provide an interesting approach to a filter module of filter paper (U.S. Pat. No. 2,339,703) and other filter materials (WO 03/041829), they have been found ineffective in a number of aspects.
Furthermore, there is a need for modules for processing a fluid in general with a simple but easily adaptable structure to various processing tasks.
In many applications and production and cleaning processes, different process steps are required. These are carried out separately, performing one step after the other. This is especially true for filtration processes, where the successful performance of the first filtration step is a prerequisite for the start of the second filtration step.
This necessary sequence of steps quite often results in a process layout where each filtration step has its own design, starting from a own housing for the filtration media, going on to separate pumps, covering all the necessary surroundings and possibly even ending up in two separate cleaning processes. This is especially true when using closed systems.
High investment costs, unnecessary long process times, additional costs for storage equipment, product losses due to unnecessary dead volume, and additional cleaning costs are only a few of the disadvantages resulting. To solve and avoid this abundance of costs, time and equipment is one of the objects of the present invention.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved processing module of the above-described type which provides a longer service life for the filter modules by simple and cost effective means a great versatile for different fluid processing applications.